Author Archives: phb256

The Set-Up: Round two

Posted on February 24, 2013 by phb256

Last week I blogged a bit about the film version of The Set-Up, so I thought I should take the time to read the book. The book and the film have similarities and differences, which Jefferson Hunter detailed far better than … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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True crime

Posted on February 2, 2013 by phb256

Last semester I played along with Jim Groom’s hardboiled detective fiction course at UMW. After all the fun we had with that course, we’re looking at exploring crime reporting in America from colonial era execution sermons through classic true crime (In … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Hollywoodboiled

Posted on December 22, 2012 by phb256

I came to hardboiled fiction from a few different angles. I grew up reading comic books, so the jump from things like The Shadow and Robert E. Howard comics to pulp fiction to detective stories is practically inevitable. Another thing … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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More wikiness

Posted on December 17, 2012 by phb256

Writing for Wikipedia is a challenge. When we write as students, it’s all about: What does the teacher want? What will make him/her happy so I’ll get a good grade? Whereas with an encyclopedia it’s all about: What will be … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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The Big Blow

Posted on December 10, 2012 by phb256

It’s too bad time constraints knocked The Big Blowdown off the reading list. It makes a nice closing book because of the way it connects to so many of the others, from echoing minute details (“The Doc put fire to a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Somebody’s Top Ten + 4

Posted on December 9, 2012 by phb256

I noticed that Devil in a Blue Dress showed up on someone’s list of the fourteen best private eye novels of all time. I have no idea why they decided to choose fourteen, or who they polled. It’s nice that … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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I want you to see the bullet coming.

Posted on December 3, 2012 by phb256

I listened to Devil in a Blue Dress on CD rather than read it. I think you lose something doing it that way – it’s a different kind of experience. As I wrote before, the narrator becomes part of the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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I want you to see the bullet coming.

Posted on December 3, 2012 by phb256

I listened to Devil in a Blue Dress on CD rather than read it. I think you lose something doing it that way – it’s a different kind of experience. As I wrote before, the narrator becomes part of the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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What a tangled web we weave

Posted on November 29, 2012 by phb256

I love what the group has to say about The Black Dahlia. Brenna brought up the Joker connection, which was brilliant, but also pointed out the two-cop connection to Cotton Comes to Harlem. Sarah went into detail about the real … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Wiki editing

Posted on November 28, 2012 by phb256

I thought it might be helpful to look at the editing process for Wikipedia and see what kind of information they need for references. I looked at the page for Sara Paretsky, and noticed that it made no mention of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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